Thursday, February 13, 2014

Alone Yet Not Alone Strikes Again!

Remember "Alone Yet Not Alone", the movie inspired by the captivity of Barbara and Regina Leininger in the borderlands of 1750s Pennsylvania? It came to Charlevoix's attention in May of last year, whilst it was still in post-production. The film was given a limited release on September 27th, and is scheduled for a wider one this coming July.

In recent months, a peculiar controversy has brought "Alone Yet Not Alone" to the attention of the media. I wish I could tell you that people took notice of the film's lamentably stereotypical portrayal of Native peoples, but it's not that. To the surprise of many, the film's title song, written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Then, that nomination was rescinded when it was found that Broughton, a former governor and a current executive committee member of the Academy's music branch, had improperly sollicited the support of other voting members via email. The Academy has revoked nominations in the past, but never on ethical grounds and never for an American feature film.

Broughton and other "Alone Yet Not Alone" afficionados have responded that there exists a double standard in the industry, whereby lobbying by and of voting members of the Academy has been tolerated in the case of big secular Hollywood blockbusters but is now being unfairly judged in the case of a independant and faith-based movie.

The Daily Beast takes this opportunity to take a deep look at the production context of what it calls the "Conservative Christian Movie the Oscars Ousted". Other coverage can be found in the LA Times, among others.